Wildfire
by Diamonds and Pearls 1991
Summary: Post TJM. After a zombie outbreak destroys most of the world: Arnold; his ex-girlfriend, Helga; and the rest of the Hillwood gang work together to find a cure. But with so many people in one group, personalities have a tendency to crash, and chances of survival become slim to none.


Disclaimer: Hey Arnold belongs to Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon. Copyright Infringement not intended.

Author's Note: Since this story is about how the Hillwood gang deals with the apocalypse, there will be a lot of POV switching. Arnold and Helga are the main characters though. They are both teens in the first chapter (15-16). The zombies are heavily inspired by the ones from Walking Dead, but you don't need to be familiar with that show to understand what's going on in this story.

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Hidden in a bunker, deep underground, a group of prisoners sit quietly in a large room. They are chained against the walls facing each other, blood splattered on their clothes, and sweat dripping down their faces. The lone guard on duty keeps his M16 rifle trained on them as he leans tiredly against a stack of crates in the corner, yawning every couple of minutes.

No one speaks for a long time; until one of the prisoners tired of the stifling silence, lifts his blond head. "Excuse me, but how long are you planning to keep us here?"

The guard scowls; for a moment he looks like he's going to hit the boy. "Until the boss is ready to see you."

The boy tries to sit up, but the web of chains coiled around his upper body are too heavy. "Look, were good people. Can't you just let us go?"

"Arnold," The chained man sitting across from him shakes his head, and the boy falls silent for the rest of the hour that passes.

Finally the door at the end of the room slides open, and a skinny, dark-haired man with a clipboard in his hand steps underneath one of the glaring florescent lights.

"Hello! Sorry to keep you guys waiting like that," He smiles down at them as if they were all friends at a college mixer. "I'm sure you're all wondering just why I brought you here, but before we get into the gritty details, let's start with introductions."

"My name is Ryan. I'm the guy that manages this whole place and by extension, the one who decides whether you will live or die tonight."

The woman sitting nearest to him starts to sob uncontrollably. He tuts softly and calls his assistant in to bring her a box of tissues.

"I know, I know, it sucks, but we have a strict protocol when it comes to dealing with interlopers. Usually we kill them on sight, but my buddy, Tim, here—" He juts a thumb at the guard, "said you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I might have been able to overlook that, if it weren't for all the dead bodies you left behind at the quarry. Those men you killed had wives and children, and now those poor people are going to have to find those bodies and put them down when they turn.

"Please sir," the woman gasps, "They were shooting at us."

"Well, yeah...that's what they're trained to do. I thought we covered that already."

"If you need to punish someone, punish me," says the man who interrupted Arnold earlier. He is the leader of the group. "This is my fault. I'm the one that led them here. I was trying to build a new life for us, away from the Infected. I swear I had no idea that this place was taken. If I had known—"

"If you had known...what? You'd do things differently? Well, it's a little too late for that now, isn't it? This was your choice, and unless you have a clock that can turn back time, there's no getting out of this. Not unless you live or die."

"You mean, not unless _you_ die," says a blonde girl from the back of the room. She doesn't look away when Ryan walks over to her, smiling and jotting down a few notes on his clipboard.

"And who might you be?" He asks.

"Go fuck yourself!"

Tim cocks his gun and points it at her temple.

The prisoners in the room start shouting all at once. Arnold's voice rings the loudest over the clamor; he begs the girl to cooperate, that this isn't the time or place for her silly pride.

Her eyes flit over to him and then back to the two men standing over her. "My name is Helga," she finally says after a long tense moment. "Helga G. Pataki."

Ryan writes this all down. "Well, Helga, you're a very brave girl—a little on the impulsive side, unfortunately—but that's to be expected considering the circumstances."

He tucks his pen into his shirt pocket, and turns back around to face the others. "Look, I'm a nice guy, or I can be when the opportunity calls for it. Seeing as how I'm down a couple of men, maybe we can work something out."

"Does this mean you'll set us free?" The leader asks, hopefully.

"Oh no. I can't let you go, not with you knowing so much about this place. I was thinking maybe it'd be simpler to just let you stay here with us. That way I can replace the people I lost, and you guys get the safe haven you've been looking for."

Helga rolls her eyes, "Just great, and what do we have to do to become a member of your little underground paradise?" The large hairy man chained beside her tries to whisper something in her ear, but she ignores him.

"It's quite simple, really. All you have to do is tell me who you are."

"Who...we are?" Arnold asks slowly, not sure if he heard the man correctly. He glances over at Helga and then at all the other thirteen scared faces in the room; they shrug, looking just as confused as him.

"Yes, I'd like to know who you guys were before and after all of this," He says gesturing to their haggard and unwashed appearance. "I want to know how you survived out there with the Infected for so long."

"But why, what difference does it make?"

"It makes quite a difference, actually. I got a lot of people counting on me to protect them. One false move on my part and it's all over. If I'm going to bring killers into our home, I need to make certain that you're no different from the brave men who died to protect it."

"And what if you don't like what we tell you, what if you don't like who we are?"

Ryan laughs and leans down to ruffle the boy's hair. "I think we both know the answer to that question."

He straightens and looks around the room. "So, what do you guys think? Do we have a deal?

The deal didn't sound very fair to either one of them, but seeing as how it's the only option on the table they nod anyway.

"Great!" Ryan says, pumping his first in the air; his eyes fall back on Helga who is still glowering in the background. "We'll start with the girl first."

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AN: Thoughts? : )


End file.
